‘I played with it the whole last year, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it’

Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak joined his teammates Monday for the first time in training camp at Warrior Ice Arena.

Pastrnak missed camp last week due to a knee injury he had actually been managing since last season.

“I played with it the whole year last year, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it,” Pastrnak admitted to reporters after practice, per team-provided video. “I spent a lot of time in the summer (trying) to make it better than it was last year. Obviously, it wasn’t perfect … it’s not perfect yet.

“So, it was perfect timing (to take last week off) to just try to get it even better, and it already got better. So, like I said, nothing too concerning. It’s just something that’s nagging me for a very long time.”

Having Pastrnak on the ice with the group had an immediate impact on the tempo of the practice.

“As soon as he steps on the ice, there’s a certain presence — what we were missing the last few days,” Bruins head coach Marco Sturm told reporters, per team-provided video. “But it was good energy, especially coming from him.”

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It was ideal timing for Pastrnak to make his debut — the Bruins focused on Boston’s power play Monday.

“It’s going to be a big key for us moving forward,” Bruins head coach Marco Sturm told reporters, per team-provided video. “We need our power play to get going, and we do have the pieces, I would say that.

“We just, with (new assistant coach Steve Spott) in, we’ve got a new teacher in the house, so I think it’s going to be good. We started today, and maybe that’s why Pasta came out today.”

The first unit saw Charlie McAvoy quarterbacking a grouping that featured Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha, while the second unit had both Hampus Lindholm and Mason Lohrei on the blue line with Viktor Arvidsson, Matej Blumel and Casey Mittelstadt up front.

The Bruins’ power play was once a strong aspect of the club’s game. Unfortunately for the Black and Gold, Boston’s man advantage ranked 29th last season, clicking at just a 15.2 percent rate.

“The penalty kill is extremely good and so you have to be on the same page with guys, and that was one of many of our problems last year is that sometimes people get away from being on the same page,” Pastrnak said of the power play. “So, good Day 1, like I said, just a little bit more time and we just need to make sure that whoever is going to be there is going to do the job, and I don’t mean just to score goals but create the momentum at least.”

Even with a new coach and tweaks to the system being implemented, Pastrnak knows the Bruins have “a lot of work” ahead of them if they want to be successful this season.

“We all know we have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said. “We’re just going to go out there, compete and get better every single day — and be proud and honor that we are able to be here every day and play for the city and play for the organization.”

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